Bruno's food workers union wants to take part in restructuring plans, calls company uncooperative

By Jennifer Lanning Drey

Portland, Ore., March 10 -Bruno's Supermarkets, LLC's United Food and Commercial Workers International Union employees released a statement Tuesday claiming the company has been unwilling to fully disclose its restructuring plans to its workers.

"The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and UFCW Local 1657 have repeatedly reached out to Bruno's Supermarket's management about working to preserve and protect good jobs in Alabama. We have repeatedly said we are willing to sit down with any potential buyers to discuss plans to restructure the company," the union said in the statement.

"We are not going to sign away our future because some New York restructuring firm says that we should. They have refused to engage in constructive discussions. They have refused to identify any potential buyers. They are basically saying trust us, we know what is best for you. But these are the same Wall Street financial wizards who got us into this economic mess," the UFCW said.

The union claimed that after years of mismanagement, Bruno's advisers are now trying to blame workers for the company's mistakes.

"It is unfortunate that Bruno's seems to be behaving more like Bear Stearns than a responsible Alabama employer. Whenever they are ready to sit down and have a productive conversation about how we can protect Alabama jobs and communities and can get Bruno's stores back on track, we are willing to get it done," they said.

Bruno's, a Birmingham, Ala., owner and operator of Bruno's and Food World, filed for bankruptcy on Feb. 5 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Alabama. Its Chapter 11 case number is 09-10368.

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